Public Schools Get Spruced Up

August 04, 2007|BY CATHY GRIMES, cgrimes@dailypress.com | 247-4758

HAMPTON — An ongoing push to spruce up the grounds around Hampton's public schools has earned more than admiring looks. It netted the district a gold achievement award from the National School Public Relations Association.

Since the spring of 2006, city residents, district personnel and the city's Parks and Recreation department have worked together to survey all schools and create a plan to give them the landscape equivalent of a beauty makeover.

In some cases, the work was closer to an extreme makeover.

Hampton resident Andy Bigelow spearheaded the effort and led the three-citizen volunteer site survey team. Bigelow, Jim Thomas and Lee Croswell, all retirees with no children in the schools, developed a detailed landscape checklist, then visited each school and rated them on a 1-10 scale. No school scored above a 5. Nine schools earned no points at all.

The team found weeds, litter, untidy sidewalks, and ragged looking shrubs and flowerbeds. Ann Bane, district director of community relations, said the results were a jolt. The district used the survey findings to develop beautification plans for each school, and city agencies, volunteer work crews and maintenance staff dug into the task.

In the fall, Bigelow's survey team revisited the schools. During that survey at least one school -- Barron Elementary -- earned a 10 for its looks, and several schools earned 9s.

Bane said another survey is planned for this fall. Once again, Bigelow's team will conduct the survey.

"That's what's so neat about this," Bane said. "They don't have to do this. They don't have children in the schools. The thrill is the ongoing community partnership."

She expects several schools to earn higher marks and hopes eventually all of them will be 10s.